MacKenzie Scott, formerly MacKenzie Bezos, has already donated nearly $1.7 billion of her fortune to a variety of organizations and causes after pledging last year to give most of it away during her lifetime.
Scott on Tuesday provided an update on that effort in a and also announced that she has to the middle name she grew up with, from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos last year.
Scott in the couple's divorce settlement last year, giving her a 4% stake that was worth more than $35 billion at the time. Her net worth is currently estimated to be around $60 billion, according to the .
"Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror," Scott wrote. "What fills me with hope is the thought of what will come if each of us reflects on what we can offer."
The $1.7 billion donation was spread across 116 organizations focused on one of nine "areas of need," she added, including racial equity, LGBTQ+ equity, functional democracy and climate change. Among the organizations she backed are the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Obama Foundation, the George W. Bush Presidential Center, RAINN and the European Climate Foundation.
Scott signed on to initiative last year. The initiative, launched by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, encourages the world's richest people to dedicate a majority of their wealth to charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.
Bezos, the world's richest man, has previously been criticized for not contributing more of his wealth to philanthropy, but has donated billions of dollars in recent years to causes including and . He has not signed the Giving Pledge.
Scott's announcement comes a day before Bezos is set to alongside the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Apple to address allegations that their companies are too dominant or have harmed competition.
